nevins



1,571,961 T. A. NEVINS MATCH MAKING MACHINE Filed Nov. 28, 1922 4Sheets-Sheet l A non/v5 rs Fel.l 9 i926.

W/NESSES 1,571,961 T. A. NEVINS MATCH MAKING MACHINE Filed Nov. 28, 19224 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 9 ,1926.

WIT/VESSES Feb. 9 1926. 1,571,961

T. A. NEvlNs MATCH MAKING MACHINE Filed NOV. 28,l 1922 4 SheebS-Shee' 4Y E//////////////////////////////////////////////////A Patented Feb. 9,1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOm A. NEVINS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOB, BY HEBNE ASSIGNIENTS, TOHERCULES HATCH CORPORATION, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEWYORK.

MATCH-MAKING MACHINE.

Application led November 28, 1922. Serial No. 608,865.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, THOMAS A. NEvrNs, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of New York city, in the county of New York and State ofNew York, have invented a new and Improved Match-Making Machine, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description. l

The resent invention relates to new and useful improvements inmatch-making machines, and it pertains more particularly to that type ofmachine employed for manufacturing match packets or matches in bookform.

It is one of the objects of the invention to provide a new and improvedform of mechanism for formino' the strips which form the back of thematch packets.

It is another object of the invention to provide a new and improvedfolding mechanism whereby the books al'e bent or folded to form a closedpacket containing matches.

Suction or vacuum has been heretofore employed in the feeding of thestrips, but in suc 1 to employ a mechanically driven or controlled valvewhereby the vacuum is intermittently broken to release the strip fromthe vacuum feeding mechanism. The vacuum mechanism described hasdisadvantages. among the greatest of which is that when the vacuum isbroken a sudden release of the strip causes thesame to becomedisarranged with respect to its holder or carrier and thus rulns theoperation of the machine. i c

It is a further object of the present invention to provide ,a suction orvacuum feeding -niechanism wherein the vacuuln is maintained constant,and the movement of the carrier or holder of the strips forming thematch book serves to move the match book out of contact with the nozzleof the suction device, thus eliminating the neces! sit of a mechanicallytimed valve for estab-A lis Ting and breaking the vacuum or suction ofthe feed. With the above and other objects in view reference is had tothe accompanying drawin in whichf igure 1 is a top plan view of amachine constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a view in front elevation thereof;

mechanism it is the common practice Fig. 3 is a detail sectional viewshowing the operation of the suction or vacuum feed;

Fig. 4 is a detail top plan view of the vacuum feeding device;

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view showing the folding in one station;

Fig. 6is a similar view showing the final folding mechanism and itsoperation;

Fi 7 is a detail view partly in section, showing the manner of theoperation of this folding mechanism.

Figure 8 is a detail vertical sectional view of the mechanism employedfor feeding the matches to the match cover blanks.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the reference characterdesignates the machine bed, and said bed is supported by means of legsor the like (not shown). Mounted on the bed 15 are two bearings 16, andrevolubly mounted in said bearings 16 is a shaft 17, which extendslongitudinally of the bed. The reference character 18 designates a powerpulley, and said pulley is carried by a shaft 19, to which is secured insuch manner as to rotate therewith, a clutch collar 20.A This clutchcollar 20 is adapted to engage a clutch collar 21 carried by la gearimmediately below a. gear 22, whichlatter gear is mounted upon the shaft17. The reference character 23 designates a lever pivoted as at 24, foroperating the clutch collar 20. By this mechanism it is apparent thatwhen the clutch collar 20 ,isk engaged with the clutch element 21, thegear (not shown) will be operatively con` nected to the shaft 19, andwill serve to drive the gear 22, and through the medium thereof, impartrotary motion to the shaft 17.

Mounted'in bearings 25, is a shaft 26, which extends at right angles tothe shaft 17, and said shaft 26 carries a bevel gear`27 `ada ted tovmesh with a bevel gear 28 operative y connectedv to the shaft 17 insuch a manner that said bevel gear` 28 will, through the medium of thebevel gear 27, drive the shaft 26. Mounted in bearings 29,

is a shaft 30, and said shaft 30 has operatively connected thereto abevel gear 31,v

which in turn meshes with a bevel gear 32 carried by the shaft 17 insuch a manner that through the medium of the bevel gear 31, the bevelgear 32 will drive `the shaft 30.

As more 'clearly -shown in Fig. 2, bearing members 33 are securedto theunder face of the machine bed 15, and mounted in said bearing members33, is a shaft 34. This shaft 34 has, adjacent the power end of themachine, a gear 35, and at the other end said shaft is provided with abevel gear 36, which in turn meshes with a bevel gear 37 carried by ashaft 38, and upon the opposite end of the shaft 38, a crank 39 iscarried. This crank 39 has a crank pin 40, and said crank pin 40 servesto drive a Geneva move ment 41, more clearly shown in Fig. 2. Ad-

justably secured to the Geneva movement by means of bolts or the like,42, is a sprocket wheel 43, said bolts 42 passing through arcuate slots44 to provide for the adjustability of the sprocket wheel.

Mounted upon the sprocket wheel 43 is a sprocket 45, and at the oppositeend of the machine a sprocket 46 is rotatively mounted, as at 47.Passing around the sprockets 43, and 46, is an endless conveyer 48, andsaid endless conveyer serves to carry the elements forming the completedarticle, through the machine to the several positions in which theseparate operations are carried out. As best seen in Fig. 2, thisconveyer 48 comprises a plurality of carriers 49, which are connected bymeans of pivotal links 50. Each of these carriers 49 has a depressedportion 51 in which the various elements are packed to be retained.

Carried .by a standard 52 secured to the main bed 15 is a hopper 53, andsaid hopper is adapted to carry elongated strips of cardboard or similarmaterial from which the books containing matches are formed. This hopperis provided with a spring 54, by

means of which the cardboard strips are prevented from accidentaldisplacement from the lower end of the hopper. This spring, however,permits of the withdrawal of the cardboard Strips from the bottom of thehopper by the vacuum or suction device.

' Tie bearings 25 heretofore mentioned are carried by standards 55, and,as more clearly shown in Fig. 3, the shaft 26 projects beyond theinnermost bearing 25. This shaft is formed with a crank arm 56, and saidcrank arm is adjustable circumferentially of the shaft 26 by means of ascrew 57, said crank arm being split as at 58. Connected to the crankarm 56, as at 59, is a lever 60, and the opposite end of said lever isprovided with an elon ated slot 61.

Pivotally secure as at 62 to the standard 52 heretofore described ascarrying the hopper 53, is a right-angular member 63. This right-angularmember 63 has its upper end provided with a pin 64 adapted to operate inthe elongated slot 61 of the lever 60. The opposite end of thisright-angular member is provided with two arms 65, more clearly shown inFig. 4, and each of these arms is provided with a nozzle portion 67.Leading from the nozzle portion 67 to a suitable vacnum producing device(not shown) is a tube 68, by means of which vacuum is created at thenozzle 67. In order to form a more 1'- fect grip on the cardboard, thenozzle 6 is provided with a friction producing insert 68 1n the form ofa rubber gasket or the like. Connected to the bearing 25, as at 70, is aspring 69, and the opposite end of the spring is connected to the pin 64heretofore mentioned. The mechanlsm 'ust described is 1ocated preferablyat the rlght of the machine and overlies the conveyer 48 heretoforementioned.

Carried by the front of the machine is a feed guide 71, and said feedguide 71 is adapted to receive the match strips 72, it being understoodthat two of these match strips are fed together to the machine, and thematch strips are moved by a step-by-step mechanism to be hereinaftermore fully described. These match strips are fed towards a cuttingmechanism of conventional form, and after they are cut they are fed intothe machine by a feeding mechanism common to this type of machine anddesignated by the reference character A in Fig. 2.

Carried by the shaft 17 is an eccentric 74, and operated by theeccentric 74 is a rod 75. As more clearly shown in Fig. 5, the lod 75operates a lever 76, pivotally mounted as at 7 7, and to which lever 7 6the rod 75 is pivotally mounted as at 78. This lever has an angular-1ydisposed extension 79, and ri idly secured thereto is a substantiallyrlghtangular nger 80, which is adapted to swin in a vertical plane asindicated by the fu and dotted lines in Fig. 5. This finger is adaptedto swing upwardly and bend the material fiom which the book is formed,from the dotted-line position to the full-line position shown in Fig. 5,upon each operation of the eccentric 74. It is to be understood thatthis mechanism is mounted behind theconveyer 48, as' clearly, shown inFig. 5, and that overlying this mechanism there is a guard 81, whlchserves to hold the matches in engagement with the material from whichthe book is formed. To the left of this mechanism, there is a secondfolding mechanism, and said second folding mechanis-m is adapted to foldover that section of the material forming the book which constitutes thecover or flap in the finished product.

As more clearly shown in Figs. 6 and 7, a cam 82 is secured to the shaft17,l and pivyotally mounted, as at 83, is a rocking arm 84, one end ofwhich has a roller engaging the cam 82, whereby the arm 84 will berocked about its' pivotal point 83 upon each rotation of the shaft 17.To maintain the roller 85 in engagement with the cam 82, a spring 86 isemployed. This lever 86 has an upwardly and forwardly disposed curvedportion 87, which is pivotally connected as at 88 to a rod or link 89.The forward .end

of this rod or link is pivotally connected as at 90, to a link 91, whichin turn is pivoted at its upper end as at 92. This link is ada ted tooperate a block 93, and secured to t e block 93 by means of a screw 94,is an arm 95, the' outer end of which is curved as at 96. As the blockis rotated, the plate 95 is adapted to swing vfrom the horizontalosition in which it is shown in full lines 1n Fig. 7 to the verticalposition in which it is shown in full lines in Fig. 6, and in so doingis adapted to engage that portion of the book forming the flap and foldthe same over as shown in Fig. 6.

Just beyond this mechanism, is a third folding mechanism, and this thirdfolding mechanism comprises a reciprocating member 97 mounted in guidesor bearings 98. The rear end of this reciprocating member 97 isbifurcated, as at 99, and provided with a roller 100, which in turn isadapted to engage a canr101 carried by the shaft 17 in such a mannerthat each time the shaft 17 is rotated` the reciprocating mem-ber willbe moved forwardly and will serve to bend the .upwardly standing flapheretofore men tioned and shown. in dotted lines in Fig. o, downwardlyto the, full-[ine posit-ion shownx in FigM 6 where it overlies the flapyor cover as shown.

ln order to cause a reciprocation ot the member- 97 rearwardly of themachine, a spring 102 is employed. After this; has been d'0ne,.thebooks, are next moved to the staplingl mechanism shown asy ofconventional form and designated by the reference character 102i` inFig. 1.

The feeding mechanisms heretofore referred to is, operated by means ofthe shaft 30, the forward end of which is provided with a crank 104, towhich is pivotaliy connected a lever 105. This level 105'hasvpivotalconnection at one end with a rocking member 106` the end of which isprovided with a right-angular exten :ion 107. Pivctally connected. as at108` is a lever 109. lsimilar in construction to the lever 106, and saidleves are pivotallv connected by means of a rod 107 By this constructionit is apparent that each time the crank member 104 is operated. thelevers 106 and 109 will be elevated and again depresi'ed. Simultaneouslywith this movement a projection 110 on the rod 107 engages between stops111 and causes a reciprocating movement ot' a member 112 on which thelevers 106 and 109 are pivotally mounted as indicated at 113 and 114.respectively.

The device operates in the following manner:

The hopper 53 is filled with the'blanks from which the covers or booksare formed and the matches are placed in the feed guide 71, preferablyin the form of two superimposed strips. The machineis now started andimmediately the feeding mechanism moves the match strips forward or tothe right in Fig. 1. Simultaneously with this operation, the suctiondevice has been elevated as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, and' hascaused the bottom blank to be removed from the hopper 53. As thissuction device moves downwardly, the bottom strip is deposited in thecarrier 49 of the conveyer 48, which is directlv beneath the hopper 53,it being understo that the conveyor is moved in a step-byst`ep manner bythe Geneva movement 41 heretofore mentioned. As the machine continues tooperate, the blanks are relnoved singly from the hopper 53 and depositedin the empty carriers of the conveyer as they are positionedtherebeneath. WVith the parts in the position shown in Fig. 3, amovementof the conveyer to the left of said figure will move the blankout of contact with the nozzle of the vacuum or suction feeding deviceand will position an empty carrier of the. conveyer ina po-v sition toLreceivey one of the blanks upon the next operation of the suctiondevice.4 As shown in Fig; 1, these blanks movey to. the left of themachine, the blanks beingdesignated the. reference character B, and whenthey reach the position designated by the reerence character Bf' in Fig.1, the matches; designated by the reference character C... which have.been severed from the strip are moved by the feeding mechanism on to theblank B as designated by the reference character B2 in Fig. l. Afterthis has been done, thev bending mechanism in the form of a curved arm80 is brought into play and the short end, designated bv the referencecharacter C2, is bent upwardly as shown in full lines in Fig. 5. Tomaintain this upwardly bent portion C2 in its vertical position. a smallstationary guide is employed. The conveyer now moves the blank with thematches thereon to the position designated by the reference cha-rac terB in Fig. 1, and atthis position the folding mechanism heretoforedescribed and shown in Figi. 6 and 7 is brought into play to close thematch book, after which it is l moved one step farther' to the staplingdevice,- and after the Staple has 4been attached` the match bookcomplete and designated, by the reference character 120, is movedthrough the machine.

Co-operating with thel conve'ver 48. is a plate 121, which serves to'maintain the completed match books in the conveyer until they reach thepoint designated by the reference character X, at which point they aredischarged into a suitable receptacle (not shown).

From the foregoing it is apparent that the present invention provides anew and improved machine especially adapted for forming match packets orboxes in which the operation is greatly reduced and the travel of thedevice from one station to the other during the o eration is greatlyreduced, thus increasing tie s eed and efficiency of joperation of themachine. Furthermore, by 'the construction of the vacuum or suctionifeeding apparatus, it is apparent that it is not necessary to have atimed valve which will automatically release said vacuum but thatsufficient vacuum by this construction can be obtained to position theblanks in the conveyer, and, at the same time, said vacuum is not strongenough to prevent movement of the blanks relative to the vacuum nozzlethrough the medium of the conveyer.

Heretofore so far as is known, the operation shoWn in Fig. 5 of firstfolding up the section C2 of the book blank, and subsequently foldingthe flap inwardly of the book, and last, folding the section C2thereover just prior to the stapling operation, has not heretofore beenemp oyed. I am aware that this operation has been carried out by meansof stationary folding guides but movable folding means to perform thisoperation has not been disclosed in the art.

That is claimed is:

l. In a match-making machine of the type for making book matches, afolding mechanism for closing the book before the stapling operationtakes place, said means comprising a rocking shaft and a. hooked membercarried thereon and adapted to fold the larger flap of the match bookover into position above the matches in the book, and a reciprocatingmember for folding the smaller flap to position overlying said largerflap.

:2. In a match-makingr machine of the type for making book matches,mechanism for folding'the match books, said mechanism comprlsingvertically movable means for folding the short flap of the finished bookto a vertical position, means for folding the long flap of the book inposition over the matches, and means for subsequently folding the shortflap over the lonar flap to close and maintain closed the match book.

3. In a machine for making` matches of the book type. means for foldingthe short flap of the book to vertical position, said means comprising arocking shaft, means for. operating said rocking shaft` an angularprojection carried by the rocking shaft and operating therewith, and asubstantially right-angular lnember carried by said angular projectionand movable in a vertical plane by the action of said shaft, saidsubstantially right-angular member engaging the short flap of the matchbook duringr its lnovement and moving the same to vertical position.

4. In a machine for making matches of the book type, means for foldingthe longer iiap of the match book to position over the matches, saidmeans comprising a curved member adapted for swinging vertical1novement-and adapted in its movement to engage the longer flap of thebook and move the same into position over the matches contained therein,and means for operating said curved member, said means comprising areciprocating rod, a curved member pivotally carried by the bed of themachine and pivotally connected at one end to said rod and a liiven camfor operating said curved mem- 5. In a matclianaking machine, aconveyer, a hopper for containing pasteboard blanks, means fordepositing the pasteboard blanks upon the conveyer, means for depositing matches upon the pasteboard blanks, vertically movable meansfor folding one of theends of the pasteboard blanks to a verticalposition, transversely movable means for folding the opposite end of thepasteboard blanks into position overlying the matches carried by tiepasteboard blanks, rec1proeating means for folding the vertically diS-posed end of the blank over the folded end of the blank to close thebook. and means for stapling said last folded end of the blank to thebody of the blank to maintain the folded flap in closed position, andmeans for subsequently discharging said completed match book from themachine.

6. In a matchmaking machine. an intermittently movable conveyer, ahopper for carrying match-book blanks, a continuously operating suctionnozzle for removing the match-book blanks from the hopperand depositingthem upon the conveyer, means for depositing matches upon saidmatch-book blanks, means for foldingr one end of said match-book blanksto a vertical position,

transversely movable means for folding the t opposite end of thematclrbook blanks to horizontal position over the matches carried by theblanks, transversely reciprocating means for subsequently folding thefirstmentioned folded end over the second-mentioned folded end, andmeans for stapling the 1ast-1nentioned folded end to the body of theblank to retain the last-mentioned folded end in closed position.-

THOMAS A. NEVINS.

